Various processing systems are used in the fabrication of magnetic recording disks. One such processing system is the ANELVA C3040 disk sputtering system, available from the Canon ANELVA Corporation of Japan. The C3040 system includes a pick and place system that uses an x-robot and damper pick to transport a disk from a buffering stage to the carrier panels. With a speed of 1300 pph, a disk that is not situated properly within the carriers may drop out of the carrier grippers during transportation of a disk between chambers.
In addition, the damper pick at the end of the x-robot requires changing during each clean up. After the damper pick is changed, the x-robot's positioning alignment of a disk within a carrier needs to be re-calibrated. It is difficult for a technician to manually perform a precision recalibration using their naked eye and a “gut feel” for when the x-robot has positioned a disk in proper alignment within a carrier.